ATTACKED ON A CITY NIGHT OUT
A WOMAN has been left bruised and swollen after a group of friends was attacked while walking home from a night out.
Abbie Mackay, 22, was left with a black eye and a swollen face after being assaulted by three men in Cardiff on Saturday night.
Abbie said she and two friends had been walking down Wharton Street in the city centre when they were approached by the men.
She said that the men became violent after they told them to go away. She said they threw a sign and pulled one girl’s hair before punching Abbie in the face.
Abbie, who has recently returned to Cardiff after travelling the world, said: “We were walking back and this group of boys started walking next to us and just saying things and coming really close.
“They were making all these comments so we told them to leave us alone as we were going home. One picked up this cone or sign and just chucked it.”
Abbie said the men became more agitated as the girls continued to tell them to leave them alone.
She said: “My friend said ‘what was that?’ and he literally turned around, went to her, grabbed her by the hair and spun her around. She slammed to the ground. He had my friend’s extensions in his hand and just stood here.”
Abbie said one of the men also approached her after she threw some noodles in the group’s direction.
She added: “I threw a handful of noodles in their direction. I know it’s ridiculous but I just thought of it. I wasn’t aggressive, I just threw them.
“He came over, picked up my box of noodles, threw it and punched me straight in the face. My friend was already on the phone to the police. It was so quick – it was literally a case of three to five minutes. I went from zero to 100, it was awful.”
Pictures taken after the incident show Abbie’s face badly swollen.
Police are now investigating and examining CCTV footage.
She said: “I took some ibuprofen and put on an ice pack and we all said it would be okay in the morning. I woke up and it was still there and that’s when the bruising started.”
Since posting about the incident online, Abbie has said she wants to raise awareness.
She added: “I’m not going to let it knock my confidence, it just angered me.
“My friends and I are very strong minded which is why we weren’t scared to tell them to go away.
“I’ve spent six months in Asia and not a single thing happened and I come home and it happens in my home. It shows there are bad people everywhere.”
She added: “There is a reason why women feel scared to walk down the road alone. Girls aren’t moaning for the sake of moaning.
“It made me more angry about it, it should not have happened. If it was two groups of women or two groups of men it shouldn’t happen. I’m not going to let some cowardly boys scare me.”
A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said: “South Wales Police is appealing for information on an assault in Wharton Street near House of Fraser during the early hours of Sunday, April 22.
“At around 3am two women became involved in an argument with three unknown men which resulted in them both being assaulted.
“Cardiff remains a safe city and clearly such violence will not be tolerated.
“Officers are making enquiries and checking CCTV to identify the men responsible.
“Anyone with information is asked to please contact South Wales Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting occurrence number 139843.”